Appraisal of staff performance is continual but normally comes to a head at an annual interview. Surveys show that poor interviewing looms large in appraisal systems that fail. By adhering to a series of "best practice" guidelines, management can get the very best out of this all-important meeting.

First, ask yourself what you are trying to achieve. Acknowledging that it is and increase the staff motivation levels in the desired direction. will influence the tone and content of the meeting, and your approach.

Staff should be encouraged to prepare for the meeting. Most organisations encourage interviewees to document and submit a self-appraisal form. If you know what's on their mind, it can help in planning a provisional interview structure, ensuring that all relevant matters will be covered.

Before the meeting begins you should also check out:

Job details and required performance standards.

Forms from previous meetings to identify relevant patterns and issues to be followed up on.

Your preliminary assessment on the employee. Ensure other views are substantiated and will, if necessary, be stood over.

Have concrete examples to support your feedback otherwise the meeting could be argumentative with the poor performer, and superficial with the good performer.

What training/development has or can be provided?

Your organisation's objectives for the next period and the employee's potential role therein.

A good interviewer will also prepare the room in advance and prohibit interruptions. This ensures you can give the interviewee your full attention at the meeting, and get the most out of it yourself.

At the outset, establish rapport. If you cannot get the employee to relax, an open and honest discussion on sensitive matters is highly unlikely. After this, the interview objective and structure can be set down. Invite an input to the agenda. By seeking this, it is easier

to retain control of the proceedings. It also gives the interviewee joint ownership of the meeting. You can now clear the (discreet) notetaking. Later, you will not need to feel embarrassed when making notes, which will help you to complete the form afterwards.

Start by giving the appropriate positive feedback. This is the most important part of the interview, so do not rush it. Positive reinforcement is the best way to maintain good performance and its omission is the single greatest crime in the conduct of appraisal interviews. Get the interviewee to talk about what they did well and there may be some hope of getting them to talk about what did not go so well.

The effective manager gets the interviewee to self-review and prescribe for themselves. The application of this technique is the key to success. The most effective resolution of most workplace problems is achieved by the individuals with the problems. By acknowledging the shortcoming, they may move on to recommend a way of dealing with it. If this fails, the much less satisfactory "tell and sell" approach comes into play.

Effective appraisal interviewing means lots of listening. By asking appropriate open (why? what? how?) and probing questions inside the agreed agenda, the interviewer can direct the discussion to the relevant issues. It also helps to maintain eye contact and give appropriate positive feedback. This display of genuine interest in the interviewee should encourage them to speak their mind.

It is dangerous to prejudge or argue issues at the interview. The inevitable argument will ensure that your main objective in having the meeting - to increase motivation levels - is unlikely to be met.

A frequent mistake by managers is to focus on the interviewee's personality, as opposed to their job performance. The former will not change but it may be beneficial to explore behaviour by focusing on the facts pertaining to the job, and exploring how they can be improved.

To facilitate the review, many organisations now use the SMART objective setting process. That is, they agree specific, measurable, agreed, realistic, and timebound objectives. This means the scope for disagreement at later meetings is reduced, and the content of the review is more focused.

At the close, it is sensible to let the interviewee summarise first, then ask them to focus on their crucial omission(s), if any. This is a superb technique for ascertaining how close, or far apart, you are at the end of the meeting.

If you have not done so during the meeting, complete the form - or make appropriate arrangements with the interviewee in regard to same.

Finally, you should look for feedback on yourself. Appraisal is a two-way street, and if you are give feedback, you should be able to take it.

When the meeting is over do what you said you would do. If you cannot, let the interviewee know why. One way to wreck a your system is to agree actions you never take. To conclude, ensure the interviewee and other authorised parties secure copies of the appraisal form. Happy appraising!

Dr Gerard McMahon is a lecturer at the Faculty of Business, Dublin Institute of Technology. E-mail: ppl1@indigo.ie